I made many important choices before and during my first semester at Baruch College. What school to attend. What apartment to live in. Who to hang out with. When to study. When to play. Many decisions were perhaps less important. What to eat. When to sleep. When to talk. When to stay silent. Some decisions are yet unmade. What major to work on. To transfer, or not. What career to pursue.
And I’ve learned independence is beautiful. Sometimes, a decision can be wrenching: What would have happened? Yet life, it seems, is made up of decisions. Decisions that must be made. Why? Because life is not a staircase, it’s an escalator. If I don’t decide, life will decide for me. And I will have no one to blame but myself.
So I plan to live life and decide! Will the decisions always be right? No. Is it risky? Yes. But risk is a funny thing. It can’t be avoided:
RISKS
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool,
To weep is to risk being called sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.
To place your ideas and your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naive.
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure
But risks must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow or love.
Chained by his certitude, he is a slave; he has forfeited his freedom.
Only the person who risks is truly free.
Often attributed to the poet and thinker, Leo Buscaglia, the real author of this inspirational verse is Janet Rand.
Carpe Diem!
Dickon McPherson
